My Swat Story: David Melo '21

His Computer Science Major Came by Accident

"I was taking an intro computer science course in order to compete my lab requirement and it turned out that I was pretty good at it. I enjoyed it a lot, considering I avoided STEM as much as possible for my four years of high school . My best friend, Miryam, was encouraging me and said, "You have the skills for it. You should try going further in and then deciding whether or not you want to do this." Three courses later, I knew I was definitely going to major in it."

All the World's a Stage

"I think what I like the most about performing, specifically acting, is being to put myself is someone else's shoes and think about what they're doing as well as being able to train my body in a way to imitate and understand how people interact with one another and within themselves. And this is a stereotype among all theater students, but we love the attention. I love the attention that comes with being on stage and I love the adrenaline rush before you go on."

He's Keeping his Options Open

"To quote one of the other tour guides, I could see myself somewhere between being a teacher and President of the United States. Swarthmore could take me a variety of places; I would love to be an actor and work my way up to the big leagues, but I would also be happy doing something with education, like working with little kids. I also want to pursue social justice activism, especially helping undocumented immigrants and LGTBQ+ people of color. I'm hoping I'm able to do all of what I'm thinking about and if not, as much as possible."